Section 140(2) and 141 of the Electoral Act, 2010 of Nigeria: A Legislative Mockery (Published)
Nigeria as a democratic country has three divisions of government. These are; Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. These three arms of government function independently of each other. Each of these branches of government is a creation of the law and functions within the limits marked out for it by the law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The Legislature is the law making organ of government. By virtue of section 4 of the Constitution, the legislative power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is vested in the National Assembly which consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The National Assembly has power to make law for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any path thereof. The House of Assembly at the State level makes law for the peace, order and good government of the State or any path thereof. The exercise of legislative power by the National Assembly or by a State House of Assembly is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of law and judicial tribunals established by law. Therefore, the National Assembly or a State House of Assembly shall not enact any law that oust or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a court of law or of a judicial tribunal established by law. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any law which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void. This paper examines the legal status of section 140(2) and 141 of the Electoral Act, 2010, which prevents the Tribunals or Courts from pronouncing winners of elections. The section of the Act only allowed the Tribunal and Courts to order for re-run elections. The National Assembly by enacting that Act ousted the jurisdiction of the Courts and thereby ran foul of the constitutional provision. The paper contends that the National Assembly acted in excess of its legislative powers and any action taken by any of the authorities without or in excess of its legal authority or power is ultra vires the Constitution and therefore void.
Keywords: Electoral Act, Legislative Mockery, Nigeria, Section 140(2), Section 141
Are These Cracks Foundational? Situating Local Government Performance in Nigeria within the Context of Its Legal Framework (Published)
The obvious bellow-the-mark performance of Nigeria’s 774 local governments is a key reason for the call from various quarters of the Nigerian society that it be scraped. Today this third tier of government in Nigeria is synonymous with wanton corruption and gross underperformance. This paper attempts a pathology of these glaring cracks and discovers that they are only mild manifestations of a foundational defect, as key provision of the constitution upon which the local government system is premised are faulty, and ties the local government to the whims and caprices of the state that most times uses it as an avenue for political manipulations, embezzlement and the outright misappropriation of funds. Nigeria local governments are therefore weak, lack funds and bereft of the needed autonomy to perform optimally, as wells as meet the development intent for their establishment. This paper among others recommendations calls for broad and far-reaching constitutional amendments/local government reforms that would re-craft and reposition this vital tier of government to meet up with the development challenge of the 21st century.
Keywords: Cracks Foundational, LGA Performance, Legal Framework, Nigeria
Presidential Law-Making Power in Nigeria and America: Turning Presidents into Supermen? (Published)
The law-making power is traditionally assigned to the Legislature. However, the increasing involvement of Presidents in law-making has generated much interest and controversies among scholars, in recent times. This paper examines the extent of the President’s law-making power both in Nigeria and the United States of America. It is argued that the increasing exercise of legislative power by Presidents, arising from delegation of such power by the Legislature, legislative abdication of power or executive usurpation of power, has virtually turned Presidents into supermen, exercising all powers of government. The paper, however concludes that if presidential legislative power is properly utilized and controlled, it could become a useful instrument for the attainment of sustainable constitutional democracy.
Keywords: America, Law-making Power, Nigeria, Sustainable Constitutional Democracy.
Gas Flaring In Nigeria: Problems and Prospects (Published)
The issue of gas flaring in Nigeria has become a topical one in view of the devastating effect gas flaring has in the socio-economic lives of the people in the affected areas. Historically, it is said that gas flaring is as old as oil production in Nigeria. Oil exploratory activities of oil companies in Nigeria have caused gas flaring resulting in loss of lives and properties in the affected communities where gas is flared. There is no specific legal framework that prohibits gas flaring in Nigeria inspite of the environmental problems associated with it. The existing law that appears to regulate gas flaring in Nigeria is not effective as it does not completely prohibit gas flaring but only provide monetary penalties for continued flaring of gas by oil companies in Nigeria. The Judiciary therefore appeared to have championed the cause for the abolition of gas flaring in Nigeria. This paper examines the legal framework for gas flaring in Nigeria and further identifies the problems and prospects associated with the flaring of gas in Nigeria and makes useful recommendations
Keywords: Gas-flaring, Nigeria, Problems, Prospects
Christianity and Politics: The Experience from Nigeria (Published)
Either directly or indirectly Christians involve themselves in politics. Today, the church interacts regularly with politics or with politicians and governments in three broad areas – in the articulation of its social teaching, in discussions arising from its involvement in schools, hospitals and welfare and in debate over particular moral issues as they arise from time to time. However, there is a common saying in the Christian fold, whether or not a true Christian should participate in politics by vying for a political post. Therefore, this study explores who is a Christian, Christian perspective on politics, reasons why Christians should be involved in politics and effect of Christian virtues in political system. The study concluded that politics is the thought, purpose and intention of God and the will of God for believers to participate in politics. Perhaps, the believer will be able to impart the lifestyle of God over the nation. People should not see politics as blight or bad, it should be admitted that politics in any form is not bad but the political players are bad.
Keywords: Christianity, Experience, Nigeria, Politics
Leadership Styles and the Politics of Institutional Management of State-owned Universities in Nigeria: Empirical Evidence from EBSU, South-eastern Geo-Political Zone, Nigeria (Published)
This study has investigated the nature of leadership styles and the politics of institutional management in State-owned Universities in Nigeria. In the study, descriptive survey design was adopted. Generated data were analysed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) via Special Package on Social Sciences (SPSS). Analysis was based on primary data generated through a structured likert questions administered on respondents. The result of the findings shows the need for the government to grant institutional autonomy to the management of state-owned universities in Nigeria and especially in the various 6 geo-political zones in other to achieve global best practices, organisational performance and sustainable human capital development within the purview of global/ international standards thereby providing relevant manpower training and general performance of its tasks in the areas of teaching, research, capacity building and community services, that will contribute meaningfully in institutional performance and rapid national development attainment in this 21st century.
Keywords: Institutional Management, Leadership, Leadership Styles, Nigeria, Politics, State-owned Universities
TAX AMNESTY FOR DELINQUENT TAXPAYERS: A CLICHÉ IN NIGERIA (Published)
Tax evasion presents a serious problem for a number of countries. Every year, governments lose large amounts of potential revenue because citizens, in some manner avoid paying taxes. To address the problem of tax evasion, many countries have implemented tax amnesty programs over the years. More and more tax administrators are coming up with diverse products and innovations to raise government revenues to meet daunting challenges in the face of slow growth rate in trade and investment. In this paper we shall examined the successes and failures of amnesty in curbing other crimes and also see if it can be applied to cases of taxation in Nigeria.
Keywords: Amnesty, Failures, Nigeria, Revenue, Successes, Tax
GLOBAL COMPANY CRISIS- HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE MERGER SOLUTION IN NIGERIA (Published)
In recent times, the economic depression in the world has affected many companies as every modern business has keyed into the global business world plan. Globalization of the market as such has led to the Global Company Crisis. The problem climaxed when many big companies went into the state of distress or technical insolvency, and were liquidated. Liquidation did not arrest the Global company crisis till the device of Merger was introduced to sanitize the company distress syndrome. The aim of this paper is to assess the efficiency of the merger mechanisms in general and Nigeria in particular as to whether it has totally insulated companies from the economic recession. It will also consider the implication and challenges of the merger devices. The paper will adopt the doctrinaire and analytical methods. The paper finds that mergers are a viable economic reform device, but has some limitations from insulting the world economy from global company crisis. The paper will make some recommendations that can assist in making mergers more effective economy remedy for Global company crises and the Nigeria situation.
Keywords: Global Company Crisis, Merger Solution, Nigeria
CHALLENGES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN YOBE STATE, NIGERIA AND THE PROSPECTS FOR 2015 AND BEYOND (Published)
This study titled: challenges of the Implementation of Universal Basic Eduction programme in Yobe State, Nigeria and prospects for 2015 and beyond has largely been shaped by the recent events in the country, specifically the problems confronting the education sector and the Nigerian government responses; the government efforts in initiating various measures through its policies, programmes and institutions to improve the education sector in Yobe state and Nigeria generally have become a major source of concern to observers and scholars. The study therefore attempted assesses the implementation of the Universal Basic Education in Yobe state and its prospect for 2015 and beyond. To achieve this objective therefore, the study used the primary and secondary sources of data collection. Charts for data analysis were drawn using the 2003 Microsoft Excel XP Version10 package while the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Spearman Rank Order (RHO) were used to test the null hypothesis. A sample of 243 respondents was randomly selected from six local government areas of Yobe. The System theory was used as the main theoretical framework. From the data analyzed, it was found that the programme recorded a very poor performance in the area of pupils’ teacher ratio, where the minimum ratio of 1:40 is abuse. In all the schools visited both primary and junior secondary sections had the minimum of a teacher to fifty pupil (1:50 and above). Again, it was observed that the qualifications of teachers ranged from certificate A- 3-year post-secondary education, certificate A- 4-years post middle, Diploma in Basic Education; Senior School certificate holders and second degree holders with the least number. The study thus recommends amongst others that more qualified teachers should be recruited and special salary structure should be designed for them, by doing that at least many people will develop interest for the teaching profession and shortage of teachers will be overcome in Yobe state, Nigeria
Keywords: Implementation. Universal Basic Education, Nigeria, Programme, Yobe state
CYBER PORNOGRAPHY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK (Published)
The focus of the paper is on cyber pornography as a related content of cybercrime and the analysis of legal framework. Cyber pornography is a new set of crimes in cybercrime beneath cyberspace which fundamentally and centrally falls under the application of information and communication technologies. The paper discusses the legal framework of cyber pornography with a view to identify the relevant laws with particular reference to the legal position. The discussion is limited to cyber pornography which covers the use of depict images in the internet. The methodology of the paper adopted is doctrinal approach method wherein relevant data collected were analysed and the finding brought out. The finding of the paper reveals that countries should adapt sex education policy for both the children and the parents on the existence of using internet in circulation of unpleasant images and further recommends that children should not hesitate to report any incidence of gross indecency against any person to their parents and law enforcement agencies.
Keywords: Cyber pornography, Internet, Legal Framework, Nigeria